The Situation 2020
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‘The Situation 2020’ is a kind of Poet Laureate's Choice of work from Aotearoa New Zealand poets for the Poet Laureate blog. Essentially, it will be a portfolio of poetry, posted over the next while, from a range of poets whose work I have enjoyed reading recently: interesting poems for interesting times.
— David Eggleton
Begin
i never know how to begin without / feeling dread in my heart / never know whether to wish
for wellness / or if i want an answer / well / i want one but not that one / never know what to
hope for / for you / hope is a winking word/ do you trust i have your interests at heart? / what
would be your hope? / freedom from people like me? / how could i know? / i wish i could ask
/ an official before talks begin / wish is the well i fall in
— Mary Macpherson
Need
The yellow leaf staring from our tiny lawn.
Our belief it’s a gift from the cat, and that gifts
exist in cat consciousness. Our need to know.
Our imaginary tree, deep in other trees, its leaves
drifting to inky rot. Our x-ray of night through which
a hunter travels, emitting delicate cries. The leaf we know
as Pseudopanax, its tissue drying under a billowing sky.
Our need to name. Our internet telling us it’s how
mothers teach their young to hunt. How a mother brings
bounty and makes it visible. Certain behaviourists
who say it’s a message to get up and play. Or is it care?
About us? Our need opening curtains
to a horse on the lawn.
— Mary Macpherson
Mary Macpherson biography
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| Mary Mcpherson. Image Peter Black. |
Mary Macpherson is a Wellington poet and photographer. Her first poetry collection ‘Social Media’ was published in 2019 by The Cuba Press.
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